Sleep Reduces Calories for Kids

A lot of adults wish they could be kids again, living life with just play and school to think about. Without so much body issues amongst peers, it's also easier to eat without having to worry about weight gain. Well, a new research may make you just a wee bit more envious of our little counterparts, because this study suggests that reducing calories for kids is as easy as sleeping.

For parents though, their kids' weight is becoming more of a real health concern, all the more so over the past decades with the rise of fast food and other unhealthy food. Parents want their kids to learn healthy eating habits, be more active and to grow and live comfortably at a healthy weight.

Well, this new research could actually give parents more room to breathe and give them a sigh of relief because the study proposes that a moderate increase in sleep may prove effective in helping children eat less and lose weight.

The researchers have found out that extending sleep actually reduced calorie consumption, altered hormone levels associated with appetite, and contributed to weight loss. This means that for parents, ensuring that your children get plenty of sleep on a regular basis may give them significant help in maintaining healthy weight and avoiding obesity.

The three-week study had participants composed of 37 children ranging from ages 8 to 11. Among the group, 27 percent of the children were obese. It began with all children adhering to their typical sleep schedule for one week. By the second week, the children were randomly divided into two groups. One group increased their sleep time, whilst the other group decreased their time in bed by the same amount of 1.5 hours. After a week, the groups switched their sleep routines.

Throughout the study, the researchers tracked the children's food intake, measured their levels of appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin, and also recorded their weight. The researchers found that extending sleep was linked to lower calorie consumption, as well as hormonal changes and weight loss.

The results prove that sleep has a strong influence on eating behaviours. And it seems that this goes for adults as well because significant body of research involving adults have also established this fact.

This shows that sleep is indeed a powerful weapon in the fight for weight loss, not just for children but adults as well, so if you need to lay off some pounds, just relax and sleep.